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Rowan U. Football Players Take The Field For Bone Marrow Donations

By Paul Kurtz

GLASSBORO, N.J. (CBS) -- The Rowan University football team today hosted its annual recruitment drive for bone marrow donors.

It's a pitch the players have perfected.   "Are you interested in saving a life today?" a team member asked passersby while handing out information leaflets.

This is the seventh year that Rowan's football team has gathered at the Chamberlain Student Center to ask students to register with the National Marrow Donor Program.

rowan donor drive 2 _kurtz
(Rowan football players set up a table inside the student center to solicit bone marrow donors. Photo by Paul Kurtz)

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Head coach Jay Accorsi says it takes all of about 15 minutes to sign up.

"You fill out a form. You take a Q-tip type thing and swab four sections of your mouth, put it in a (mailing) kit, and off you go," he explains.  "By being in the registry you have the potential, through your donation, to save somebody's life."

Ryan Deutsch, a junior at Rowan, was among several hundred students to say "yes" today.

"It's just a way to save a life on campus," he said.  "It takes two seconds, and I think it's worth the time."

Rowan is working alongside Villanova coach Andy Talley, who has been running a bone marrow drive for more than 20 years.

Rowan signed up roughly 350 students last year- THis years goal is 500

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